Last Friday, Teresa visited the new Tesco Dot Com Centre in Erith to hand-out certificates to 84 long-term unemployed people who have successfully completed a course of pre-employment training with Tesco under their Regeneration Partnership programme.

The graduates, who have been out of work for more than six-months, will now take-up positions in Tesco’s new grocery home delivery centre in Erith when it opens later this month. They will be filling just some of the 650 jobs it is anticipated the new centre will create.

Tesco has been working with Bexley Council and Job Centre Plus to ensure that the positions go to help local people who have struggled to find employment, and candidates received eight weeks pre-employment training to support their return to work. This is the first Regeneration Partnership programme in a Tesco home delivery centre.

This Regeneration Partnership initiative in Erith follows similar schemes in over 50 Tesco stores, which have helped more than 5,500 people back to work.

Teresa said:

“I am really pleased that Tesco will be opening their Dot Com Centre in Erith later this month. It was great to see so many local people receiving certificates at the Dot Com Centre, especially knowing that they are going on to paid employment at a time when jobs are very thin on the ground.

Being unemployed for a long-time can really be a confidence-knock, and initiatives that aim to re-build a person’s belief in their own abilities before giving them a chance to show what they can do should be commended. The Tesco Regeneration Partnership Programme is an excellent way to incentivise people to apply for vacancies after experiencing long-term unemployment.

The creation of 650 jobs will inject new life into the community following a very difficult few years.”